Hinge guard



Peb. 6, 11923. ilmg S. J. SHEPHERD H NGE GUARD FILED DEC 27` 92] www,

Patented Feb. e, 19:23.'4

urso stares STONEWALL J. SHEPHERD, OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE.

HINGE GUARD.

Application led December 27, 1921." Serial No. 525,123.

To ZZ ywhom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SToNEwALL J. SHEP- HERD, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Memphis, in the county of Shelby and StateofTennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in HingeGuards, of which the following is a full. clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to hinge guards and has for its object to providesuch a device in combination with the door of automobiles, moreespecially Ford sedans and similar closed cars where the door hinge isadjacent to the seat.

It is a well known fact that in Ford sedans and other similar types ofautomobiles in which the door hinge is adjacent the seat, persons seatedin the machine frequently place their hands against the wall of the carbody, and if the door happens to be open, quite often the lingers willextend into` the space between the door and the jamb. Should the door bethen closed it is obvious that the persons fingers would be seriouslyinjured if not completely amputated. Such accidents frequently occur andit is the object of the present invention to provide a guard which willprevent the lingers from getting into the hinge, and to this end I haveprovided the device shown in the accompanying drawing, in which;

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the interior of an automobile showingmy hinge guard in place.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the hinge guard, the door andcar body being shown in dotted lines.

figure 3 is al view similar to Figure 2, the door being shown swungopen.

Figure 4 is a front elevation of one form of attaching means.

Figures 5 and 6 are horizontal and vertical sections respectively,showing the manner of securing the hinge guard in place.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of one of the buttons with which theguard is provided, and

Figure 8 is a. fragmentary horizontal section through a slightlymodified form of the device.

Referring to the drawing more in detail, the numeral 1 designates a carbody provided with a door 2 hinged as indicated by the numeral 3.Attached to the interior of the car body and extending across the hinge3 is the guard member Al, formed of flexible to the door frame and doorin any desiredl manner, I prefer to use the bracket members 5 providedwith the embossed portion 6, slotted as indicated at 7. These brackets 5may be secured to the car body by means of screws 8, or any other formof fastening means. The guard member 4 is provided with a plurality ofbuttons 9 fastened along each longitudinal edge thereof and spaced apartvertically the. same distance as the brackets 5. In attaching the guardit is only necessary to place the same with the buttons toward the carbody and slightly above the slots 7 a slight downward pressure willsecurely lock the guard in place.

In Figure 8 I have shown a slightly modified form of the invention inwhich the guard l0 is formed of a plain sheet of flexible materialprovided with sufficient fullness to permit a complete and free openingof the door.

In both forms of the invention the guard may be provided with elasticstrips l1 which aid in returning the guard to its normal position.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described what I now'believe to be the best embodiment of the invention, but I do not wishto be understood' thereby as limiting myself or the scope of theinvention, as many changes and modifications mayl be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention, all such I aim to include inthe scope of the appended claims.

lVhat I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with an automobile body, of a. door hinged to swingoutwardly therefrom and normally in the plane of the side of theautomobile, a seat permanently positioned adjacent said hinge, and aguard of flexible material covering the hinge on the interior of the carbody and secured to the car body and door. c

2. The combination with an automobile l -car body, and means fordetachably connecting the longitudinal edges of the guard to the carbody and door.

3. The combination with a door frame and a .door hinged thereto, of aflexible plaited guard secured to the door frame and door and completelycovering the hinge.

4. The combination With a door frame and door hinged thereto, of aflexible plaited guard secured to the door frame and door, and elasticstrips secured to the guard.

5. The combination with a door frame and `a door hinged thereto, of aflexible plaited guard covering the hinge and detachably connected withthe door frame and door.

6. A hinge guard for automobiles including a substantially rectangularstrip of longitudinally plaited, flexible material adapted to extend thefull length of the automobile door, and provided with means for securingthe same to the door and car body adjacent the hinge.

STONEWALL J SHEPHERD.

